The main differentiator is programmatic fills otherwise vacant inventory with audience/intent/etc placements and is not purchased through the publisher directly. To get to the definition you have to go back before ad networks existed. Companies owned a website, and you went to the 'ad sales' section of the website and negotiated packages with the company. You'd get ads placed for a limited amount of time and/or impressions, and the purchase was similar to what you'd do for a Newspaper or Print ad today. Then came ad networks. Publishers could add them in to give eyeballs to remanent inventory. Say they had 1 million visitors in a day, but only sold 500k impressions directly. The ad networks pick up the other 500k for the highest bidder (and the publisher makes more money). The networks started directly placing buys themselves, but quickly realized they could automate it to optimize performance for both advertisers and publishers - and thus multi-site and programmatic advertising was born. An advertisers could now say "get me as many impressions as you can for under $3 CPM" and the networks could go out across tens of thousands of sites, enter auctions, and deliver. After that, layering on third-party data, intent, etc. was just the natural evolution of ad network buys. So to that point, you can have a buy on the same site and one can be 'programmatic' and one cannot. I can buy direct from CNN.com for 1 million impressions. That's not a programmatic buy. I have selected exactly where I want the ads to serve and can negotiate if I want homepage, politics, etc. placement. I can also buy through an ad network, and when CNN has remnant inventory (inventory that has not been purchased direct) it will serve up in the auction, allowing it to get auctioned and placed by those various networks to the highest bidder. I can set preferences, whitelist placements, etc. but I'm not guaranteed to serve unless remnant inventory becomes available on those placements AND I want win the auction to get placed. The first is not a programmatic buy. The second is. Google search is not a programmatic buy because you are buying on a specific site (Google) with specific terms/phrases/etc. that you are directly negotiating with Google (within the platform). Google display is a programmatic buy because it runs on an ad network that fills remnant inventory across millions of publishers, but you are having no direct negotiations with said publishers. Youtube, purchased through Google ads platform, is not a programmatic buy because you have selected the broader site and are instead running on channels within it. If you run a digital video campaign through Trade Desk or another vendor, and YouTube is one of the channels available in the targeting set along with a hundred other OTT or streaming app networks, then it could be a programmatic buy. Basically programmatic refers to specifically how the inventory is getting placed (direct vs. through a network). The audience targeting, intent, etc. are all part of programmatic platforms but don't inform the definition. Answer from OddProjectsCo on reddit.com
Pathlabs
pathlabs.com › blog › direct-vs-programmatic-advertising
Direct vs Programmatic Advertising: A Breakdown for Marketers | Pathlabs
March 14, 2023 - However, direct buy usually is ... if needed. Programmatic advertising takes direct advertising and automates it, allowing marketers to plug their campaign info and goals into a programmatic platform....
Address 111 North Higgins Avenue Missoula, MT, 59802 United States
Keynes Digital
keynesdigital.com › programmatic-advertising-vs-direct-buying
Programmatic Advertising vs Direct Buying
March 14, 2023 - A programmatic advertising definition ... inventory. While the programmatic definition still includes a form of direct buying, most programmatic advertising is done through an automatic real-time bidding (RTB) process....
Confused by 'Programmatic' Digitla Advertising vs. 'Non-Programmatic' Digital Advertising?
The main differentiator is programmatic fills otherwise vacant inventory with audience/intent/etc placements and is not purchased through the publisher directly. To get to the definition you have to go back before ad networks existed. Companies owned a website, and you went to the 'ad sales' section of the website and negotiated packages with the company. You'd get ads placed for a limited amount of time and/or impressions, and the purchase was similar to what you'd do for a Newspaper or Print ad today. Then came ad networks. Publishers could add them in to give eyeballs to remanent inventory. Say they had 1 million visitors in a day, but only sold 500k impressions directly. The ad networks pick up the other 500k for the highest bidder (and the publisher makes more money). The networks started directly placing buys themselves, but quickly realized they could automate it to optimize performance for both advertisers and publishers - and thus multi-site and programmatic advertising was born. An advertisers could now say "get me as many impressions as you can for under $3 CPM" and the networks could go out across tens of thousands of sites, enter auctions, and deliver. After that, layering on third-party data, intent, etc. was just the natural evolution of ad network buys. So to that point, you can have a buy on the same site and one can be 'programmatic' and one cannot. I can buy direct from CNN.com for 1 million impressions. That's not a programmatic buy. I have selected exactly where I want the ads to serve and can negotiate if I want homepage, politics, etc. placement. I can also buy through an ad network, and when CNN has remnant inventory (inventory that has not been purchased direct) it will serve up in the auction, allowing it to get auctioned and placed by those various networks to the highest bidder. I can set preferences, whitelist placements, etc. but I'm not guaranteed to serve unless remnant inventory becomes available on those placements AND I want win the auction to get placed. The first is not a programmatic buy. The second is. Google search is not a programmatic buy because you are buying on a specific site (Google) with specific terms/phrases/etc. that you are directly negotiating with Google (within the platform). Google display is a programmatic buy because it runs on an ad network that fills remnant inventory across millions of publishers, but you are having no direct negotiations with said publishers. Youtube, purchased through Google ads platform, is not a programmatic buy because you have selected the broader site and are instead running on channels within it. If you run a digital video campaign through Trade Desk or another vendor, and YouTube is one of the channels available in the targeting set along with a hundred other OTT or streaming app networks, then it could be a programmatic buy. Basically programmatic refers to specifically how the inventory is getting placed (direct vs. through a network). The audience targeting, intent, etc. are all part of programmatic platforms but don't inform the definition. More on reddit.com
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August 11, 2024dOOH - buying direct vs programmatic. Understanding impression attribution
A DOOH impression can refer to either an ad play or an audience impression (ad play times audience multiplier). It may be a conflict of impression methodology here. More on reddit.com
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December 23, 2024Are there reasons to go direct IO, as opposed to a programmatic DSPs?
If this post doesn't follow the rules report it to the mods . Have more questions? Join our community Discord! I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns. More on reddit.com
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May 14, 2024Pros & cons of buying site-direct vs programmatic?
Hi,
maybe some of those articles would help?
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Direct Sales vs Open Market: how and why these two sales strategies should be aligned
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RTB or Direct Sales – What Is the Future of Online Advertising?
Pros of programmatic:
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The buyer selects the specific page views, which the buyer is willing to buy.
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Programmatic buying that is data-driven and allows advertisers to bid on ad space in real-time.
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Programmatic ecosystem is made up of multiple platforms, markets, and participants, therefore there is a variety of ways to buy in programmatic (you can always do A/B tests and choose the best option)
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Through programmatic advertising, you can easily determine the specific audience you want to reach using a wealth of online data.
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Algorithmic artificial intelligence technology helps optimise ads' delivery based on a visitor’s behaviour.
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The publisher sets a minimum fixed CPM price, however, buyers may choose to compete with other buyers for an inventory. Also, programmatic has the lowest fees because most intermediaries (such as SSPs and DSPs), which take up a portion of ad spend, are eliminated.
Cons:
I can see the only one: quite hard to compete for the best publishers' inventory, due to the fact that best slots are sold in direct. Also, some publishers do not sell some piece of their inventory in programmatic (nevertheless, it all depends on publishers' inner policies).
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May 4, 2020What is the main difference between Direct vs. Programmatic Ads?
Direct ads are manually negotiated and guarantee specific placements, while programmatic ads are bought via automated bidding and algorithms.
unboundb2b.com
unboundb2b.com › blog › direct-vs-programmatic-ads-which-one-is-better
Direct vs Programmatic Advertising: Which One Is Better?
Which is more cost-efficient: Programmatic vs Direct Buying?
Programmatic often offers better efficiency through optimized bidding and targeting, though direct buying may justify premium costs in strategic placements.
unboundb2b.com
unboundb2b.com › blog › direct-vs-programmatic-ads-which-one-is-better
Direct vs Programmatic Advertising: Which One Is Better?
Are programmatic ads suitable for B2B?
Yes, especially at enterprise scale. Programmatic advertising allows you to reach decision-makers with precision, adjust campaigns in real time, and drive measurable ROI.
unboundb2b.com
unboundb2b.com › blog › direct-vs-programmatic-ads-which-one-is-better
Direct vs Programmatic Advertising: Which One Is Better?
Videos
03:46
Programmatic vs Direct IO - YouTube
07:47
Pros and Cons of Programmatic Advertising - YouTube
55:48
Debate: Will Programmatic Advertising Overtake Brand/Direct ...
06:25
Direct vs. Programmatic for Improving FAST Fill Rates and CPMs ...
15:56
Have No Fear! Your ULTIMATE Programmatic Advertising Guide is HERE!
Playwire
playwire.com › blog › programmatic-advertising-vs.-direct-buying
Programmatic Advertising vs. Direct Buying
January 19, 2024 - Although the actual execution of ... direct negotiations, invoices, or insertion orders (IOs). In many ways, programmatic is easier than IO-based buys....
Reddit
reddit.com › r/ppc › confused by 'programmatic' digitla advertising vs. 'non-programmatic' digital advertising?
r/PPC on Reddit: Confused by 'Programmatic' Digitla Advertising vs. 'Non-Programmatic' Digital Advertising?
August 11, 2024 -
Hi all, I am having a hard time understanding what 'programmatic' digital advertising actually is, and how it is different from non-programmatic digital advertising?
My ad stack is 6sense display ads, Youtube video, Google paid search, and FB and LI ads.
Every single one of the above ad channels runs ads dynamically based on the target audience, their level of intent, and where they are currently in the marketing funnel.
Given the dynamic nature of pretty much all ad platforms in 2024, I am really confused what the definition of 'programmatic' advertising is.
I see online 1 definition of programmatic advertising is "Programmatic advertising refers to the practice of automating media buying and creating digital ads with the use of marketing technology"
Since all ad platforms I use automate media buying, is the only difference between programmatic if the ads are created dynamically using these platforms, vs non programmatic would be using static ads?
Thanks.
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The main differentiator is programmatic fills otherwise vacant inventory with audience/intent/etc placements and is not purchased through the publisher directly. To get to the definition you have to go back before ad networks existed. Companies owned a website, and you went to the 'ad sales' section of the website and negotiated packages with the company. You'd get ads placed for a limited amount of time and/or impressions, and the purchase was similar to what you'd do for a Newspaper or Print ad today. Then came ad networks. Publishers could add them in to give eyeballs to remanent inventory. Say they had 1 million visitors in a day, but only sold 500k impressions directly. The ad networks pick up the other 500k for the highest bidder (and the publisher makes more money). The networks started directly placing buys themselves, but quickly realized they could automate it to optimize performance for both advertisers and publishers - and thus multi-site and programmatic advertising was born. An advertisers could now say "get me as many impressions as you can for under $3 CPM" and the networks could go out across tens of thousands of sites, enter auctions, and deliver. After that, layering on third-party data, intent, etc. was just the natural evolution of ad network buys. So to that point, you can have a buy on the same site and one can be 'programmatic' and one cannot. I can buy direct from CNN.com for 1 million impressions. That's not a programmatic buy. I have selected exactly where I want the ads to serve and can negotiate if I want homepage, politics, etc. placement. I can also buy through an ad network, and when CNN has remnant inventory (inventory that has not been purchased direct) it will serve up in the auction, allowing it to get auctioned and placed by those various networks to the highest bidder. I can set preferences, whitelist placements, etc. but I'm not guaranteed to serve unless remnant inventory becomes available on those placements AND I want win the auction to get placed. The first is not a programmatic buy. The second is. Google search is not a programmatic buy because you are buying on a specific site (Google) with specific terms/phrases/etc. that you are directly negotiating with Google (within the platform). Google display is a programmatic buy because it runs on an ad network that fills remnant inventory across millions of publishers, but you are having no direct negotiations with said publishers. Youtube, purchased through Google ads platform, is not a programmatic buy because you have selected the broader site and are instead running on channels within it. If you run a digital video campaign through Trade Desk or another vendor, and YouTube is one of the channels available in the targeting set along with a hundred other OTT or streaming app networks, then it could be a programmatic buy. Basically programmatic refers to specifically how the inventory is getting placed (direct vs. through a network). The audience targeting, intent, etc. are all part of programmatic platforms but don't inform the definition.
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6Sense Display would be the only platform you mentioned that is "programmatic" in your stack. The other platforms will only serve on the respective sites, based on your targeting parameters, whereas 6Sense sense can serve on any one of their partner sites/networks and uses precise targeting to segment audiences with real data and in near-real time (RTB).
Zero Gravity Marketing
zerogravitymarketing.com › blog › programmatic-advertising-vs-direct-buying
Programmatic Advertising vs Direct Buying: Differences & Uses
April 22, 2025 - Media advertising options include ... ad placements in real-time. Direct media buying, in contrast, is a more traditional method where advertisers manually negotiate placements with publishers....
Multiview
multiview.com › marketing › blog › direct-media-buying-vs-programmatic-advertising
Direct Media Buying vs Programmatic Advertising | Multiview
June 28, 2023 - Programmatic ad buying uses auction-based pricing, typically offering broader reach at lower cost but less certainty about placement. Creative control: Direct advertising allows brands to carefully curate where and how their message appears.
Epom
epom.com › blog › programmatic › programmatic-vs-direct-media-buying
Direct vs Programmatic Advertising: Is It Really a Choice in 2026?
October 2, 2025 - However, direct sold compared to programmatic is associated with higher CPMs, because the selection of the advertising space is custom and can often be considered a "perfect condition" for a particular advertiser.
UnboundB2B
unboundb2b.com › blog › direct-vs-programmatic-ads-which-one-is-better
Direct vs Programmatic Advertising: Which One Is Better?
October 16, 2025 - Direct buying is favored when you want premium placements, guaranteed exposure, and brand-safe environments. Programmatic advertising is adopted by marketers who want scale, dynamic optimization, and data-driven performance.
Camphouse
camphouse.io › home › blog › direct vs programmatic advertising: which strategy works best?
Direct vs Programmatic Advertising: Which Strategy Works Best? | Camphouse
May 5, 2025 - Direct advertising gives you full control over where your ads appear, often through direct negotiations with publishers. Programmatic advertising uses automation and real-time bidding to buy ad space more efficiently.
Brafton
brafton.com › home › direct vs. programmatic advertising explained: a guide for marketers (infographic)
Direct vs Programmatic Advertising Explained | Brafton
September 5, 2025 - This ensures premium placements and brand safety. Programmatic Advertising: Allows AI-driven automation to handle the buying and placement process, using algorithms to optimize bids and targeting in real time.
Google News Initiative
newsinitiative.withgoogle.com › resources › trainings › understand-direct-and-programmatic-ad-revenue
Understand Direct and Programmatic Ad Revenue - Google News Initiative
Direct selling gives you: ... In programmatic, you sell ads through automated technology that sells, manages, and fulfills campaigns for you. Programmatic gives you: Automated sales based on data, demographics, content, reader behavior, etc.
The Trade Desk
thetradedesk.com › resources › programmatic-vs-direct-ios
Programmatic vs Direct IOs | The Trade Desk
Last year, programmatic grew at a 37% faster rate than direct, as advertisers want more data – and more control – over their campaigns. So, should you be leaning into programmatic?
Strategus
strategus.com › home › strategus blog › direct vs programmatic advertising: what's the difference?
Direct vs Programmatic Advertising: What's The Difference?
August 28, 2025 - While one relies on human relationships and manual insertion orders, the other uses real-time auctions and audience data to deliver ads in milliseconds. For marketers looking to advertise, understanding this distinction is the difference between ...
Attekmi
attekmi.com › homepage › blog › adtech insights › programmatic vs direct advertising: what’s better and more profitable?
Programmatic vs Direct Advertising: What’s Better and More Profitable? - Attekmi
August 20, 2025 - ROI Dominance: Programmatic advertising consistently delivers higher returns on investment (ROI) when compared to direct buying. Data-driven targeting, real-time optimization, and automated efficiency all contribute to this superior performance.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/programmatic › dooh - buying direct vs programmatic. understanding impression attribution
r/programmatic on Reddit: dOOH - buying direct vs programmatic. Understanding impression attribution
December 23, 2024 -
New to the dOOH business.
We have a client for whom we ran a forecast, we offered him 210K impressions across 105 venues for $5000 per month.
The client also received an offer from an external agency for 10 high profile billboards, that serve 9 million impressions for $16000 over 3 months.
I’m guessing he’s buying offline, direct- but I wonder how are direct buys able to offer “sizable” impressions when programmatic forecasting is low. Also considering Geopath is the official attribution service for dOOH so need to connect the missing link here before I meet them tomorrow
Top answer 1 of 5
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A DOOH impression can refer to either an ad play or an audience impression (ad play times audience multiplier). It may be a conflict of impression methodology here.
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Hi I've worked in DOOH for years. Billboards generate vastly more impressions than any smaller place based screen, this is due to something called the Impression Multiplier. Billboard CPMs are generally lower than the place based CPMs, it sounds like the difference might be attributed to The agency likely making/suggesting a direct booking. 9m imps for $16k = $1.78 CPM before any margin. This is very low. I'd have to phone in some favors to get a rate that low. ~$3 CPM direct is low but possible. Programmatic CPMs, depending on the venue type you need, will vary from $5 CPM = $25+CPMs A venue type difference. Did you only use Billboards in your forecast? The numbers are so different it seems unlikely to be a comparison of like for like. Smaller screens = smaller impression numbers because of the multiplier. I think this partly explains your lower imp forecast. Ad server vs DSP. Digital billboards running in an ad server, vs being bought programmatically can deliver many more impressions. Billboard publishers tend to operate a 60s loop. 6 ads displayed for 10s each, then looping back to the start. In a publisher ad server they can control and prioritize direct bookings over the programmatic spot in that loop, similar to an online pub ad server. Assuming 1 publisher here and that they have the avails to run the direct booking more often, they will , maybe 2 or 3 spots in that loop. vs the programmatic spot still only getting 1 spot in the loop and then you needing to win that programmatic spot auction. TL:DR - Your CPMs are a bit high, theirs are very low. It sounds like a direct booking in an ad server, so not like for like. You could tell them you're better as you can add data, attribution, fancy reporting dashboards, maybe throw in measurement for free. But if it's a question of who can come in with the lowest CPM, you can't compete with a direct booking and $1.78 CPM is the lowest CPM I've seen in a while
Reddit
reddit.com › r/advertising › are there reasons to go direct io, as opposed to a programmatic dsps?
r/advertising on Reddit: Are there reasons to go direct IO, as opposed to a programmatic DSPs?
May 14, 2024 -
Is there a reason a brand, or agency would rather go direct IO then purchase inventory through a DSP? I'm guessing direct IOs make for a better relationship, guaranteed inventory via that supplier, can potentially get a better rate, as well as lower CPM's, and added value. Otherwise, if you don't care what or where, programmatic would be the way to go, since you're just casting a wide net.
Is that the way to think about it?
Top answer 1 of 5
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Less overhead and risk. IO is guaranting a level of delivery at a cost, that if not met don't have to pay the full amount. This minimizes risk of overspending programmatically. There is an overhead cost to having multiple in house traders that the agency absorbs, that cost is passed through in IO vendor invoice. The question back is what tangible benefit does the in-house team provide that the client cannot get from an IO vendor?
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You've got the thought process, yep. Going directly to a vendor/publisher gives you the inventory advantages. Basically, anything that they don't sell direct they dump into programmatic platforms. So if you want guaranteed inventory and to know exactly what you're buying (how many of each ad size, for example) going direct is the way to go.
Sovrn
sovrn.com › sovrn support › what’s the difference between direct and programmatic ads?
What’s the Difference Between Direct and Programmatic Ads? - Sovrn, Inc.
September 17, 2024 - The two most common approaches to advertising are direct and programmatic. Here’s a quick tutorial on the basics of each. Direct ads are set through an agreement between the publisher and the advertiser. Both parties negotiate the terms of the agreement, including the price, how many ads will be shown, the location where the ads will be displayed, and how long the ads will run. These types of ads are typically guaranteed, in that an advertiser will buy a set number of ads for a specific amount of time.
Terraboost Media
terraboost.com › blog › direct-vs-programmatic-advertising
Direct VS Programmatic Advertising - Terraboost Media
This level of control allows you ... by the right people. Programmatic buying is a technology-driven approach to digital out of home advertising automation that uses automatic systems to purchase ad space....
Teqblaze
teqblaze.com › homepage › blog › insights › direct vs. programmatic advertising: which strategy is right for your brand?
Direct vs Programmatic Advertising: Complete Comparison - Teqblaze
August 22, 2025 - However, despite some evident benefits, ... While programmatic advertising can instantly scale campaigns across a vast digital ecosystem, direct advertising is associated with a much higher number of constraints....
Outbrain
outbrain.com › home › programmatic › programmatic vs display network advertising: what’s the difference?
Programmatic Vs Display Network Advertising | Outbrain.com
May 28, 2024 - Programmatic advertising automates ad space buying across various exchanges, while display networks serve ads within closed ecosystems. Programmatic ads offer broader audience reach and efficient real-time bidding, whereas direct display networks ...